I have been featured as a guest writer on Andi’s blog Saltwater Dreams. She was kind enough to ask me contribute to her wishlist series. I am a huge fan of her blog – she features a great mix of beauty and fashion posts. I love her polished style which is also modern and chic. I wish I could have her as my fashion stylist! Check out her blog if you haven’t already and you’ll see what my holiday must-haves are this year.
* Must clarify, these items were on my wishlist at some point but have become holiday must-haves for me as I’ve acquired them all by now!
I featured most of Chanel’s Holiday 2010 Collection back in October, but neglected to review the 2 new Rouge Cocos in Magnolia 117 (pink) and Patchouli 107 (brownish-peach-nude). Here they are swatched and reviewed.
Magnolia is a light pink with subtle gold sparkles, but it’s mostly a non-shimmer lipstick. On me it runs on the slightly cool side. It works best of me when worn with a light touch. I think I like this on lighter skintones. It’s hard to capture with the camera – but on me it looks a bit fake like a powder pink.
Patchouli is a natural peachy brownish nude shimmer. If you’re familiar with Perle, Patchouli is similar in texture and finish with the shimmer factor and is more peach brown where Perle is more pink. I love this one.
Thank you to everyone who participated in my Chanel Le Vernis Giveaway. The lucky winners are:
Catherine S. from California Connie S. from Missouri Elizabeth K. from Illinois Kimberly H. from California Linda S. from Washington Shireen S. from Florida
It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost 1 year since Chanel Particulière 505 Le Vernis was released. I feel that it’s one of those “trendy” shades that has transitioned into a classic. I was never into the taupe nail trend until Chanel released Particulière. What I love about this is how different it looks on everyone depending on skintone. On me it’s a mink-taupe cream with slight cool mauve tones. I love it on the fingers and toes. It’s a color that can do no wrong for me. In the past year, I’ve featured it here, here and here. Here it is again photographed against different colored backgrounds. My DIY manicure is with 2 coats.
This mani/pedi was from the weekend – right after Thanksgiving when I was dreaming of warm sandy beaches. Living in Southern California, I shouldn’t complain, but I spent part of the extended weekend watching Chanel’s Saint-Tropez Cruise 2010/2011 Fashion Show (yes, a few months late) and couldn’t help but feel envious of the beautiful warm-looking weather. I immediately was inspired to make myself feel resort-like the only way I could by doing a Chanel cruise-inspired mani/pedi.
The inspiration from the fashion show, nude pink nails on the hands and blue on the toes. I know most breakdowns list Jade Rose on the fingers, but I decided to go with Inattendu instead for the hands. I stuck with the new Riva on the toes to mimic the models.
The focus of this particular review is on Night Romance Lipstick by Edward Bess – a luscious raspberry pink cream. It has a smooth creamy texture that gives full coverage in one swipe. In my opinion, his lipsticks work just like a lipstick should. No tweaking or extra layering required.
Night Romance by Edward Bess was one of my first lipsticks from his line. About a year ago, I ordered the Fall 2009 Lipstick Set which had Night Romance, Forever Yours and Tender Love – a trio of berry pinks. All 3 are classic colors that you can wear year round and can take you from day to night with ease. Each shade from last fall are very similar to each other. Night Romance is the coolest-toned of the three and has the most color. I’d describe it as a cool raspberry color. Forever Yours (reviewed here) is more neutral but close in color. Tender Love has a more reddish undertone. They all look very similar and the difference is in the undertone. You might ask, what’s the difference? It’s hard to put into words, but these links might help you out:
You can check out Karla Sugar’s swatch line up on her blog, linked here
Also check out Blogdorf Goodman’s feature, linked here
Night Romance:
It’s a sophisticated classic and I love it. I was initially worried that it would be too cool for my skin, but it has the right amount of depth to make it work. It’s brighter on me because I have a lot of natural pink in my lips, so I’ll dab a bit of powder or foundations on my bare lips before applying.
* Chanel Tulip Noire Nail Polish on nails
Many might wonder if these are worth the high price tag of $32? For me they definitely are. The formula is creamy and moisturizing. It’s lightly scented with a soft fig scent. They don’t dry out my lips and they feel amazing. So many of those classic cream-finish colors by MAC and Bobbi Brown are gorgeous in the tube and swatched on my hand, but on my lips turn out to be a different story. I can’t tell you how many times I tried to fall in love with classic colors MAC Spirit, Captive or Twig. For some sad reason, they just don’t work on my lips. Edward Bess’s lipstick selection, while small, has great wearable colors for me.
Onto more swatches. On the back of my hand, you can see the blueish tones make the lipstick look different depending on what angle and lighting the color is in:
Here is a photo of me applying it on the lips. I had blotted my lips down with a bit of foundation (it’s a bit uneven) but you can see how well the Edward Bess Lipstick covers the lip:
In direct sunlight:
With the flash, indoors:
I know many of you will see these swatches and think to yourselves, “this doesn’t look the same on me!” For your reference, I have olive undertones and use Chanel’s Shell and Beige foundations in Teint Innocence and Lift Lumiere. This is the equivalent to what’s in between a MAC NC30 and NC35. Also note that I have pink lips naturally. To get a better feel for what this might look like on you, some other great resources to check out:
The Non-Blonde’s Review of Night Romance, linked here
Modesty Brown’s Review of Night Romance, linked here
Of course, the girls at the Edward Bess counter at Bergdorf Goodman are amazing at describing colors and can help you narrow down the options better than I can. In the US, Edward Bess Cosmetics can now also be found online at places like Neimanmarcus.com, Bergdorfgoodman.com, EdwardBess.com, instore at Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills and Neiman Marcus Houston.
FYI, Bergdorf Goodman has their $25 off $100 event coming soon. I believe in the next week. They have a new lipstick and gloss set out along with a new blush that I am eagerly waiting for. You might want to take advantage of this event to save a bit. I believe there is a GWP but I’m not 100% sure what it is. I recommend calling the girls to check out what they are offering this time.
‘Tis the season for giving and as a thank you to my followers, I’d like to host a giveaway (open to U.S. readers only). Here is how this will work:
There will be 6 different winners, each winner will be randomly selected to win 1 of the following harder-to-find Chanel Le Vernis shades pictured below (my favorite product of the moment). Click on the link below and answer the questions to my survey.
To qualify you must fit all categories:
* You must be 18 years of age or older and
* A resident of the U.S. and
* You must answer all questions and fill out the survey completely
* Please only one entry per person
6 winners will be randomly drawn to win 1 of the following shades featured below and contacted via e-mail. NOTE – duplicate entries or incomplete entries will be discarded and not qualify.
The deadline to enter is the end of Thursday December 2nd, 2010 PST. The winners will be announced and contacted the following week. Each selected winner will receive 1 of the pictured Chanel Le Vernis shades and the color per winner will be distributed at random.*
{Survey is now closed}
Make sure you answer all the questions! Incomplete entries will be discarded!
* Note this giveaway is self hosted/sponsored. I am in no way affiliated with Chanel or any retailers. All items featured for the giveaway are brand new.
